2022 Special Olympics WV holds annual swimming competition

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The “Special Olympics West Virginia (SOWV) 2022 State Swimming Competition” was held at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park on Oct. 16 and began at 10:45 a.m.

About twenty-five athletes twelve years of age and older competed from Hancock, Kanawha, Mason, Monongalia and Tucker counties. Each athlete trained for at least eight weeks to compete in the first “Special Olympic Swimming Competition” since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The swimming competition is usually held as part of the Olympic “Summer Games” held in May, but with the pandemic still ongoing and somewhat coming to an end, the directors decided to do it in October for the first time at Mylan . Park. The water sports center was happy to host them.

While discussing why it’s important to have events like this for people with disabilities, Wendy Miller, SOWV’s director of sports and training, said, “our athletes don’t always get the opportunity that everyone else does, so the Special Olympics is giving those people intellectual disabilities and the opportunity to excel in sports, and be part of a team and do everything everyone else does. You know, if you were an athlete, in school or before. You know what it’s like to be part of a team and be able to stand out and show off your skills and learn new ones. And that’s what the Special Olympics are all about.”

SOWV offers competition in 15 different aquatic disciplines, ranging from 10 meters to 100 meters, and with all strokes. On Sunday, both men and women competed in:

• Developmental – 10m assisted swimming, 25g freestyle, 25g freestyle, 15g freestyle, 25g breaststroke, 25g backstroke and 25g butterfly
• Traditional – 50g backstroke, 50g breaststroke, 50g butterfly, 50g freestyle, 100g freestyle and 100g individual medley
• Relay team events – 4x25y freestyle relay and 4x25y medley relay

When photos and results are published, you can find them herebut if you’re looking for updates, click here. The Special Olympics swimming competition will return again next year.